It was pure coincidence that I arrived at the Coker's mansion the same time Yinka returned from his morning gym session. I slowed down my pace into a casual stroll, slyly watching out for any audience and also waiting for Yinka to catch up with me.
Just the sight of him, alighting from his car in an all-black silk sportswear had me grinning like a clown. He sent a wink in my direction then went around his car to grab his gym bag in the backseat.
"Hey, beautiful," he said, taking my hand in his as we strolled towards the house.
"Naso," I said, despite my intense blushing. I still couldn't get over the warmth that flooded my insides every time we held hands. (Yeah right)
"You really don't know how to take compliments" he pointed out, squeezing my hand gently.
I chuckled. "From you, I don't. I'm sorry. I always have to come back with something sarcastic or I'll be a giddy mess"
"You're going to have learn cau –"his words were cut off as the front door was ripped open.
I didn't wait to see who was emerging from the house before tearing my hands away from Yinka's and putting a good distance between us. Mrs. Coker appeared in the doorway just as we separated from each other.
"G-good morning, ma!" I managed to holler my greeting despite the hard thumping of my heart against my chest.
"Morning, dear" she spared me a glance before turning to her son. "Yinka, I was wondering when you'll get back. Go in and freshen up quickly. The Ayindes would be arriving any moment from now"
"What's that got to do with me?" Yinka asked, making his way over to his mom.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She scowled at him, narrowing her eyes and running them over his frame from top to bottom in a menacing manner.
He reached her and placed an arm around her as a way to douse her growing annoyance. "I meant, aren't they coming to see you and daddy?"
She pushed off his arm from her shoulders and kissed her teeth. "Fi mi le, jare. Go and freshen up, your father wants you to be present. If you have a problem with it, go and take it up with him" (Leave me)
I left the duo discussing and made my way over to the housekeeper's quarters. The adrenaline rush from almost being caught by Mrs. Coker slowly dissipated, I released a sigh of relief. This was like playing an extreme sport. A dangerous one at that.
I realized that openly showing affection and being awfully close with each other in such an exposed space was a dumb move on our path, most especially mine. I had more to lose than he did and I needed to be more careful particularly when we were at the lion's den.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yinka's POV
I took great effort in slowing down my strides to the living room. The loud baritone voices and deep laughter of my father and Mr. Ayinde boomed from within the living room just as I rounded the corner to the entrance.
I took in a deep breath and braced myself for the order of greetings and exchange of pleasantries that would soon follow. Mr. Ayinde, seated on the sofa right next to my father was the first to notice my presence.
"Ah, Olayinka bawo ni?" the short, dark-skinned man nursing a protruding belly bellowed with excitement. (How are you?)
"Mo wa, sir" I said with a tight-lipped smile as I bent forward to prostrate in respect. (I'm fine)
I straightened up for a brief second and noticed his wife at the other end of the living room with my mother and right beside her, dressed in casual white tee and jeans, was a younger replica of Mrs. Ayinde. My mother and her friend were beaming with smiles as my eyes met theirs, one filled with pride and the other with admiration.
"E kaaro ma" I prostrated towards her, smiling blandly and she rose from her seat to give me a side hug whilst gently slapping my back. (Good morning)
At this point, our guests had all risen to their feet along with my parents and the exchange of pleasantries began. I took a firm shake from Mr. Ayinde with my head slightly bowed in respect as I answered his questions, steering towards my career and wellbeing.
"So this is Bimpe, the only daughter of the Ayindes," my father gestured towards the young lady that had been quietly standing right beside her mother.
I waved at her and offered her a welcoming smile. "Hello"
"Hi" she smiled back and subtly bowed her head then averted her eyes away from mine.
Just a few seconds after meeting her, my first impression was that she was reserved and timid. Her personality didn't quite match her physical appearance in my opinion. She stood a few inches shorter than me with a fit build and I was a good 6'2.
"You should know her now. She used to come here with her parents when you were younger" my father added, tapping on my shoulder blade like it would send the memories running back to me.
"Oh well, we wouldn't remember that. As you said, we were younger" I said and followed with an awkward chuckle.
"You're right" Mr. Ayinde quipped and collective laughter followed amongst the adults. I wasn't sure what exactly was funny but I joined in, not entirely sure what to do.
The next minute, we were all seated in the living room. The television had some random American movie playing but neither of us was paying attention. I pulled out my phone from my front pockets and began to scroll through my Instagram feed, occasionally glancing around to make sure my attention wasn't called on.
"Yinka—"my father beckoned. "—you know, Bimpe graduated from the University of Ibadan with a first class in Biochemistry" He continued with my attention now in his grasp.
"Oh wow, that's nice," I said as I placed my phone down on my lap and looked at her. "Congratulations"
"Thank you" she smiled and pushed her thin-rimmed spectacles, further up the bridge of her nose.
"Such a smart girl" my father said, his tone like that of a proud father. "Wouldn't you say so?" he directed at me.
What is going on with him?
"Yeah..." I guess
"You know, it's been a while since you guys saw each other. Why don't you catch up with each other tomorrow? Or whatever day is comfortable for you guys" Mrs. Ayinde suggested, beaming with an excited smile. If he was trying to be subtle with his intentions then his efforts were utterly futile.
Are these old people attempting to set their children up? In this day and age?
"Uh..." I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. The reason for my presence needed at this visitation was now clear as day to me.
"Abi, is there someone who wouldn't like you catching up with her?" My father asked then chuckled to mask his poor attempt at stylishly prying into my personal life. These people are terrible at this.
I looked at my mother who had been silent the entire time. Her eyes were fixed on the television but I had a feeling, she wasn't really watching the movie.
"Ehn Yinka?" My father inquired, eyes trained on me and patiently awaiting my response.
"Uh no" I muttered under my breath
"You don't sound sure o" Mr. Ayinde pointed out then followed with a weird chuckle.
"Abi" My father concurred with his arms subtly spread out. (Right)
I cleared my throat, leaned forward and said with firmness in my voice. "No, there's no one"
I couldn't exactly say that I was in a relationship with anyone because then my parents would be inquisitive to know who it is, or even worse want to meet the person. The whole idea of faking a relationship with someone else just to keep my parents off my business was dicey and just not worth it. It was better to keep them aloof and unconcerned, even if it meant going on a 'catch up' with Bimpe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to Neye's POV
I reared my head backwards, narrowly missing the splash of the dirty soapy water from the bathroom floor. My tiny spaced bathroom that only contained a showerhead and a small window which was improvised into a bathing soap place holder was a far cry from the vastly spacious and elegant bathroom I cleaned at work.
I straightened up from my bent over posture and turned on the showerhead to rinse out the soapy floor. Even after working for hours, I still came home to another round of domestic work. It was my turn to clean the toilet and bathroom. Even though I was tired, my sister takes no initiative to help out unless she needed something in return.
Fifteen minutes later, I was refreshed and settled on my bed, preparing to rot my brain cells with social media. Ever since we went on a break from school that's all we've been doing; scrolling through social media for juicy gossip and entertainment, eating, sleeping and watching movies. It was our routine, save for my job during the day.
"Neye! Are you in?" A voice hollered from outside. One that sounded very much like Uju's voice.
Instead of a reply, I climbed out of my bed and unto my sister's and peeped out the curtains to confirm my assumption. And it was.
"Oluchi's coming to open the door," I said and returned to my bed
Oluchi lowered her phone and stared blankly at me.
"Somebody is standing outside now. Be fast" I ignored her expression.
She muttered something inaudible and hesitantly rose from her bed then grabbed the gate keys.
"That's your business" I picked up my phone and nestled further into my bed.
Seconds later, Uju and Oluchi walked through the door. Uju plopped down heavily on my bed and looked down at me with her lips pressed into a line. Her large pair of sunglasses stood out to me, followed by an unusual beanie pulled down her head, almost enveloping her forehead, a washed-out jean jacket and a maxi neon green bodycon gown that danced around her feet.
I stifled my laughter as I eyed her appearance. "Which kain dressing be this one? Shey na the new fashion trend be this?"
She kissed her teeth tiredly and climbed further into the bed then laid beside me, her back against the wall.
I chuckled and picked up my phone. "Wetin happen?"
She didn't respond and I didn't press her further as I resumed my movie. Ten minutes into my movie, I began to hear sniffles coming from my side. I paused my movie and angled my head to the side to get a good look at Uju's face.
There was a single trail of tears running down both her cheeks and her beneath her nose, glossed over with wet slimy excrete. I sat up alarmed at a sight I hadn't seen since we were both freshers in the university.
"What happened? What is it?" I placed a hand over her shoulder and patted.
Her lips quivered at my question and she raised her hands to her mouth to muffle out the sounds of her cries. My heart sank in my chest and I held my breath in fear of whatever the issue could be.
It was not like she never cried in all the years I'd known her, I just never got to see it. She had always been the strongest one in our group, always had on a tough exterior, was hardly ever an emotional mess unlike the rest of us who had our days. Therefore seeing her breakdown before me was a scary sight to behold and I couldn't stop my mind from trying to conjure up equally, matching scenarios that led to this meltdown.
I shook her shoulder, again. "You're scaring me, what happened? What's wrong?" I placed a hand on my chest. "God. My heart is beating so fast"
She gradually rose to a sitting position, her back against the wall and her legs crisscrossed in front of her. She sniffed in and attempted to wipe her snot dripping nose with the back of her palm.
I turned to my sister, who was now also seated on her bed, quietly watching us. "Bring tissue"
She didn't need to hear it twice before climbing out of her bed and rushing to do as she was told. We were both tensed up. I turned to Uju and placed a hand on one of her legs, slowly rubbing it back and forth as a way of soothing her.
"Take," my sister's voice came out behind me, not louder than a whisper. She was holding out a small amount of rolled out toilet paper.
I took and transferred it to Uju who received it wordlessly, save for a small whimper and a shudder as she blew her nose. After wiping her nose clean, she moistened her lips and parted her lips to talk but then closed it and leaned her head back against the wall.
"Omo, I don't know what to do," I said to myself but looked at my sister. Do I call somebody? Who should I call? I turned back to Uju and gave her a once over then reached over to take off her large shades. "Wait, abeg comot this your glasses, make I dey see you proper—"
"—ly" I drawled out as I caught sight of the dark colouration over her swollen, left eye. "What the—what's this?" I gestured at her face as I flung the glasses onto the far end of my bed.
At my inquiry, she covered her face with her palm and bawled out like a baby. I couldn't believe my eyes at the moment, I turned to my sister to confirm if I was seeing correctly and from her loosely hung open mouth, I was affirmed that this was indeed reality.
"What ha—wait, don't tell me" I paused and placed my hand on my chest to calm down. "Don't tell me that somebody did this to you. Wait, wait, wait... Oh my God. Who hit you?"
The increased pitch of her sobbing was the only response I received.
"No, wait, please calm down. Who hit you? Cause you can't tell me that somebody didn't do this." I felt a sudden urge to take off her beanie from her head and once I did, an unpleasant sound escaped my lips.
"Jesus Christ," I said against my palm, eyes wide and staring at the deep wound on the side of her head, nestling right on the beginning of her hairline.
"Nah, what is this?" I said, aghast at the situation before my eyes. I rose to my feet, unable to keep seated. I didn't know what to do or how to react, my mind was jumbled and everything that came out of my mouth was on impulse.
With my hands clasped over my nose and mouth, I dragged them down to my neck, rubbing the sides of my cheeks en route. I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath and willed myself to calm down and think rationally.
The situation on my hands was extremely sensitive and I needed to be as calm as possible to be able to act appropriately and say the right things. There was a reason she came to me for support and I needed to be the best one she could get.
Succeeding in controlling my emotions and collecting my thoughts, I climbed back into the bed and placed myself beside her then gently pulled her to lean on me while I rubbed and patted her arm. If all she wanted to do was cry, then I would silently let her do so.
I glanced up at my sister who was silently watching. She had tears streaming down her face and when she met my eyes, she quickly wiped her face. I sent her a weak smile. She was such an emotional person, if someone she cared about was in pain, she would start crying along with the person. Sometimes, she didn't even have to know the person to cry along with.
Uju had calmed down and had her eye closed with her head rested on my shoulder. I knew she wasn't sleeping due to her once every ten minutes body shudders. "Are you ready to talk?"
She opened her eyes, took in a deep breath and sat up whilst nodding her head.
"Do you want Oluchi to leave so we can talk?" I asked, softly.
Immediately, Oluchi rose from her bed and made her way to the door but halted when Uju called her back. Uju picked up the pillow beside her and threw it onto Oluchi's bed then tapped the open spot for Oluchi to take.
"It is better she's here so this--" Uju pointed to her face. "—never happens to her"
She let out a long, tired sigh followed by a sardonic chuckle. "You know, if someone had told me that I'd let a man do this to me, I would never have agreed. It's always word of mouth until it truly happens to you"
She turned to me. "And yes, it's Micheal. As thin as he is, if you chop his blow ehn, e go be like say na heavyweight champion hit you"
A tiny chuckle escaped me before I caught myself and slapped my thigh as punishment. "Stop, it's not funny. Don't make me laugh"
She chuckled. "I'd prefer you laugh than be sad and look at me with pity"
"Abeg, I don't want to laugh" my voice quivered slightly and a lone tear escaped an eye. I quickly wiped it away and cleared my throat. I didn't want to cry or break down in front of her because I wanted to be her comforter and not the other way around. (Please)
She laughed. I mean, really laughed with her head thrown back and eventually fell onto my lap. "Ow, my head" she placed her hand against her head wound.
"Be careful," I said as I lightly lifted her off my lap.
"I don't even know where to start. I don't think I even want to remember how it started sef but what I would say is this, you can never really know someone. I mean, completely know someone until you've seen them in all phases of life." She started
"Micheal had three carryovers from last year, his parents were disappointed, and he was frustrated at himself. I guess I was a means to ease that frustration. The first time he hit me, I was stupefied. It was just a slap though. You need to see the way he apologized, cried and begged me not to leave, even you would take pity on him"
"I convinced myself that it was just a slip-up, anyone could make a mistake when they're angry" she turned to my sister. "See, don't ever make excuses for anyone who physically inflicts pain on you because you don't know how far they can go, do you hear me?'
My sister nodded frantically.
"If you ever give someone the impressions that they can hurt you without so much as a backlash or consequence, they'll do it again. And they'll keep doing it because they know, you'll always come around, you'll always forgive them. They lose regard and respect for you, in fact, seeking to make amends becomes a regular routine" she spat out with contempt and simmering anger.
"After I forgave him, he got me that stupid iPhone 11 pro max and like a fool, I collected it. That was the genesis of taking hits and getting gifts as compensation. Every time, he hit me, I would consider coming to you but I was so embarrassed and I know how you guys look at me as akpobi" (Strong hearted person)
"Woh, long story short, after uncle almost broke my head. I decided I'd had enough before I die because of relationship. I no do again, abeg" she rounded up abruptly.
"I don't mean to sound insensitive or anything but why didn't you just end it? Like after the second or third time it happened, why didn't you leave?" I asked
She was quiet for a long minute. "Well, I guess whenever it came down to it, the good overweighed the bad. I don't really know how to explain it but every time I was on the brink of letting go, I would feel beside myself. It was almost like I didn't really know myself without him in the picture—"she looked me straight in the eye with a desperation that I see the picture she was trying to paint. She smacked her lips in frustration when she noticed my failure to comprehend. "I'm not sure you understand what I'm trying to say"
"I was weak when it came to him and I made countless excuses," she said, dejected with her shoulders sunken. "I always wanted to look on the bright side, you know. We'd been together for over two years... it wasn't exactly easy to just call it quits"
We sat in silence, letting her words really marinate into our minds. I tried to put myself into her shoes, wondering if I would've done the same thing. I wasn't really sure I'd have been the same because when it came to relationships, I'd mastered the art of detachment and saying goodbyes especially when our religious beliefs and values clashed.
At the same time, I sort of understood her. Two years was a long time to be with someone. Emotional and physical bonds have been formed, beautiful memories created, it wasn't quite easy to detach. I wondered, if something happened and I had to part ways with Yinka, would I be able to do so without going through withdrawals.
Uju scoffed and muttered underneath her breath. "Look on the bright side, my foot. I can barely see with one eye, mtchew"
"Wha—"A roar of laughter erupted from the depths of my stomach and I slapped my palm over my mouth, trying my hardest to muffle the sound.
"Ugh, you better laugh, if you want. It's funny" Uju poked my sister's side, who was trying her hardest not to laugh.
"It's not, abeg" I said, pulling myself together. I turned to face her and folded my legs beneath me, or at least, I tried to. "On a serious note, what do you want to do? Or better still, what should I do to help you?"
"How?" Uju asked
"I mean, I could arrange for agbero boys to go and give him a taste of his own medicine," I said in a whisper and winked to show that I was joking. Or was I? (Hood boys)
She chuckled. "Would you?"
I leaned forward. "Just say the word and fiam" I fisted one hand and slapped it with the other palm.
She laughed. "Naso, you wey no like violence"
"Who says? I'm a war. I'm a fight. I'm indaboski" I flexed my shoulder muscles and she continued to laugh. "But seriously, do you want the authorities involved? Cause I can—"
"No. no," she interjected. "I don't want any of that. I just want to be free of him, I don't need any noise. Besides, I have to keep up my akpobi reputation. You can't have me looking like a weakling in these streets"
I pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad that you can still joke around"
She patted my back and sighed. "I'm trying"
"I'm here for you"
"I know"
I pulled apart and glanced at her head wound. "In the meantime, we need to go to the hospital—"she grimaced at the mention of the hospital. "—or at least, a clinic. We need to make sure that there's no interior damage"
She sighed. "Okay"
I climbed out of the bed and glanced down at my outfit. A large black T-shirt and three-quarter jeans trousers, it seemed fairly okay, all I need to put on was a bra. I looked up at the duo seated on my bed for their opinions. "I'm fine like this, right?"
"Wait, we were going now?" Uju asked, wide-eyed.
I stopped, fretting over the hem of my shirt and gave her an incredulous look. "Before nkor, you want us to sit here while you may be bleeding internally. God forbid sha"
"Ah, God forbid" Uju seconded
"Oyah, stand up" I took her hand and pulled on it. I turned to Oluchi and asked. "Do you want to come with us?"
She nodded quickly and climbed out of the bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy New Year, my lovelies!
I know that I've been behind in my updates, so I tried to make this one worth your while.
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